Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Coordinates: 39°57′07″N 75°09′04″W / 39.95194°N 75.15111°W / 39.95194; -75.15111

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, also known as the Philadelphia Fed and the Philly Fed – headquartered at 10 N. Independence Mall West (N. 6th Street) at Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with an additional entrance at N. 7th Street – is responsible for the Third District of the Federal Reserve, which covers eastern and central Pennsylvania, the nine southern counties of New Jersey, and Delaware. Its geographical territory is by far the smallest in the system, and its population base is the second-smallest (next to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis). The current President of the Philadelphia Fed is Patrick T. Harker.

The Philadelphia Fed conducts research on both the national and regional economy. Its regional manufacturing index is the second of the regional manufacturing reports released every month (the New York Fed's Empire State Index is now released earlier), but it is still very important to the financial community as a proxy for nationwide manufacturing conditions. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia publishes a quarterly survey of professional economic forecasters, the Survey of Professional Forecasters, also called "The Anxious Index". It is a highly predictive report on the prospects for the Economy of the United States. It also publishes a quarterly publication entitled Business Review. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia also publishes the Livingston Survey and the Greenbook data sets.

Federal Reserve Bank

A Federal Reserve Bank is a regional bank of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. There are twelve in total, one for each of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts that were created by the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. The banks are jointly responsible for implementing the monetary policy set forth by the Federal Open Market Committee, and are divided as follows:

Some banks also possess branches, with the whole system being headquartered at the Eccles Building in Washington, D.C.

History

Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of Treasury, started a movement in 1780 advocating for the creation of a central bank. The Bank Bill created by Hamilton was a proposal to institute a national bank in order to improve the economic stability of the nation after its independence from Britain. Although the national bank was to be used as a tool for the government, it was to be privately owned. Hamilton wrote several articles providing information regarding his national bank idea where he expressed the validity and "would be" success of the national bank based upon: incentives for the rich to invest, ownerships of bonds and shares, being rooted in fiscal management, and stable monetary system.

Federal Reserve System

The Federal Reserve System‍—‌also known as the Federal Reserve or simply as the Fed‍—‌is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, largely in response to a series of financial panics, particularly a severe panic in 1907. Over time, the roles and responsibilities of the Federal Reserve System have expanded, and its structure has evolved. Events such as the Great Depression in the 1930s were major factors leading to changes in the system.

The U.S. Congress established three key objectives for monetary policy in the Federal Reserve Act: maximizing employment, stabilizing prices, and moderating long-term interest rates. The first two objectives are sometimes referred to as the Federal Reserve's dual mandate. Its duties have expanded over the years, and as of 2009 also include supervising and regulating banks, maintaining the stability of the financial system and providing financial services to depository institutions, the U.S. government, and foreign official institutions. The Fed conducts research into the economy and releases numerous publications, such as the Beige Book.

Philadelphia

Philadelphia (/ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə/) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the fifth-most-populous in the United States, with an estimated population in 2014 of 1,560,297. In the Northeastern United States, at the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill River, Philadelphia is the economic and cultural anchor of the Delaware Valley, a metropolitan area home to 7.2 million people and the eighth-largest combined statistical area in the United States.

In 1682, William Penn founded the city to serve as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony. Philadelphia played an instrumental role in the American Revolution as a meeting place for the Founding Fathers of the United States, who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Constitution in 1787. Philadelphia was one of the nation's capitals in the Revolutionary War, and served as temporary U.S. capital while Washington, D.C., was under construction. In the 19th century, Philadelphia became a major industrial center and railroad hub that grew from an influx of European immigrants. It became a prime destination for African-Americans in the Great Migration and surpassed two million occupants by 1950.

Reserve Bank

A reserve bank is a public institution that manages a state's currency, money supply, and interest rates.

Reserve Bank may also refer to: